HotBlooded Pursuit
by KillaCross
Summary: [Complete] The events that lead up from ROCK LEE's recovery to when he saves Naruto.
1. HotBlooded Pursuit

Summary: The events that occur between Rock Lee's recovery to when he saves Naruto.

A/N: Hello hello, back again after a short while….had this idea one night about Lee…I figure it'll fit in right in the manga between chapters 180 & 209 (after Lee's surgery and before he saves Naruto)

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Thoughts

"Dialogue"

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Hot-Blooded Pursuit

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Faster. Faster. If I cant catch her, then, then, Ill have to run through these woods 6x with twice my normal weights!

Lee's mind was frantic as he ran through the woods. His eyes constantly searching for his next clue.

He heard that Sakura-san had left on her own to find Sasuke. He couldn't really explain why he had to find her, it wasn't a mission by the Hokage or anything, matter of fact, Tsunade-sama told him a few days ago to stay in bed and rest. She didn't even knew he had escaped. He didn't even tell Gai-sensei.

Lee knew why Sakura had left. Obviously she loved Sasuke very much and would never give up on her ability to bring him home. Lee believed that his love for Sakura-san was the reason he took it upon himself to find her. He was praying to catch her before she was injured or worse. The mission to bring Sasuke back was at least a B-Class mission, ninja combat was guaranteed. He quickened his pace.

As Lee thought about the situation at hand and the fact that he was still recovering when Sakura left, it angered him. It made him furious that he wasn't by her side. Sure he loved her company and would give almost anything to be in the woods alone with her, but more important to him, if he couldn't escort her, he couldn't risk his life to protect her. For some reason, she was the most important person to him.

I will protect you until I die.

The words echoed in his mind. Considering he had made his "nice guy pose" too, he had to keep his promise to her. If something happened to her, anything, he would be devastated.

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I must find her, Kami-sama, please guide me. He quickened his pace even more. He started to jump from tree branch to tree branch on one foot. It wasn't particularly difficult or dangerous. The only thing that caused him any problems was removing his weights in such an awkward stance. He removed the first one and tossed it over his shoulder as he kept his balance on his other foot. The cloud of dust it left was amazing from such a high altitude. It even left a crater that was about 10ft deep. Lee performed a simple acrobatic maneuver and twirled in midair as he leaped from one limb to the next. As he was spinning he removed a kunai from his holster and a small bottle from his back pouch. He first threw the bottle towards the tree and with the other hand quickly threw the kunai. When the two collided, the small bottle exploded with a bright red liquid that marked the tree. Though Lee was no where near the liquid when it exploded, he already knew that it contained a strong odor.

There, should be easier to find when I come back by.

He repeated the process with the next leg weight a couple of yards away from the first.

Lee planned to take the same route back to Konoha that he had used to find Sakura. He didn't want to lose his weights, they were a new set, a heavier set. He had been saving little by little from his missions so that he could buy them, they were expensive after all. And using the smelly red liquid, he knew that if by chance he did lose them or couldn't afford the time to pick them up immediately on his return journey, he could have Gai-sensei summon a turtle to help him track them down.

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I wonder what type of punishment losing my weights would merit?

He dismissed the thought and tried to focus more on the task at hand. Though she obviously wasn't thinking clearly or like the proud konoichi she was, both Sakura and Lee were familiar with the terrain of the Konoha forests. He had planned to use the shortest route from Hidden Leaf to Hidden Sound. But Lee, using common sense figured that because Sakura-san had a substantially lower amount of chakra than most of the other Genins in Konoha, she would most likely use the shortest routes too. Good control over your chakra is impressive, but it can only do so much.

He found his second clue, fresh footprints on the soft sand below.

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Sakura-san is almost at her limit. She has used too much chakra jumping from tree to tree, she must be running on the forest floor.

It wasn't particularly difficult for him to track Sakura, his biggest obstacle was that she had a significant lead on him. He knew that Sasuke leaving had upset her, but he just didn't know to what extent. It was obvious she was upset. She was a skilled konoichi of Konoha, she wasn't the best by any means, but she wasn't the worst either. She understood the importance of stealth, however Sasuke leaving had affected her so much, that she blatantly ignored even the most basic tricks of remaining undetected.

His third sign.

A pile of leaves that had been scattered and overturned recently.

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Sakura-san must have rested here…and not too long ago.

The signs were pretty old, but he could tell that he was gaining on her. Hard work had definitely paid off. Though he failed out of the Academy, hard work and training with Gai for the past few years had improved many of his skills. He quickened his pace yet again.

His next clue.

Another set of footprints and small spots of some clear liquid. It almost broke Lee's heart when he realized that the smalls drops of water, were actually tears. Not just anybody's tears. Sakura's tears. Lee's Sakura. He told himself last time that he wouldn't let another important person shed tears if he could help it. His head drooped a little as he followed Sakura's trail. He became very disheartened.

Lee was getting anxious to catch up with Sakura. He debated with himself on whether he should open the initial gate so that he could greatly increase his chakra and cover the shrinking distance between them in a matter of minutes, very few minutes. He might have caught up with her, but it was a huge gamble. If he didn't catch her in that time, he would have to wait for his body to recover from the stress, or he would have been immobilized completely. The latter was more likely because he did just recover from his surgery. Actually, he had to have surgery for opening too many gates anyway. Lotus was a forbidden technique after all, and for a good reason. Lee knew that better than anyone. Eventually, he realized that opening any gates would be too risky. Besides, Sakura was just ahead of him, and he was still gaining. He could wait. He did however want to increase his speed even more. He jumped down from the canopy in which he was traveling and began running on the ground. He figured that since Sakura was nearby he could catch her faster and with a sprint than he could moving from tree to tree.

1hr later (still sprinting, at Lee's speed)

Lee was exhausted, leaving before he was fully recovered was starting to have adverse affects on him, not only on his body, but on his mind and spirit. He started to doubt whether he would ever catch Sakura, whether he could get there in time to see her again. Whether he would see her again period.

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"The springtime of youth! Being passionate is the best part of being young! For those who don't believe in themselves, hard work is worth less!! You, Lee, are a genius who has the strength and potential within him to surpass Neji, because you are a genius of hard work!! Become a good man I can look at and smile!!"

On the edge of exhaustion and delirium, Lee was almost at his limit. For some reason though, he could hear Gai's voice. He then thought back to the Chuunin exam and when Gai smiled at him and his efforts.

Tears began to form in Lee's eyes once again.

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Arigatou, Gai-sensei.

Fire burned brightly and violently in Lee's eyes. He was blessed with a new determination and vitality.

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Must be the youth power Gai-sensei always talks about.

Though he had been running for the last 5hrs straight, he **was **going to catch Sakura, and he was going to save Sasuke to bring a smile to her face again. He loved her smile. If he couldn't bring a smile to her face, he would save the man who could. He missed her smile.

Lee was focusing and using his senses intently when he heard the sound of something nearby. It sounded human but he wasn't really sure. He paused for a second so that he could pinpoint the direction that the noises were coming from. As he got closer to the sound he could definitely tell that it was two separate voices talking. He didn't know whether he should observe the two talking or continue with his "mission" until he recognized one of the voices.

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SAKURA-SAN!!

One more time he quickened his pace, leaving a tremendous dust cloud behind him.

As he got closer, he could understand the conversation even more, little by little though.

"I'm hungry!"

"Choji? Choji? Where are you? I'm back"

"Over here Sakura-san!!" -Choji

"Oh, gomen, I couldn't really find anything to eat, but I did find something.." -Sakura

"Oi, is it anything good?" -Choji

Carrying a handful of various "goodies" Sakura spoke up

"I don't have a lot of time I still need to find the others, but here, I found you some mushrooms, some berries, and some edible leaves. I know it's not much, but its all that I could find." -Sakura

Lee finally arrived at his destination unnoticed on a tree branch above them. The sight warmed his heart and brought tears of joy and relief to his eyes.

"Awww…don't have some potato chips or maybe some cake? This stuff is nasty, I don't eat it." - Choji

"Choji!! We're in the middle of no where, you're injured badly and all you can think about is food? What a fat ass!" - Sakura

veins bulging in her neck

"DON'T CALL ME FAT!! I'm big boned…HURRAY FOR CHUBBY!!" -Choji

veins bulging in his neck

Irritated, and definitely tired, Sakura punched him on the head

"Shut up and eat his food….**or else…**" -Sakura

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She's just like Ino, Choji thought as he quickly quieted down and ate his meager portions. He could feel a little energy returning to him. It wasn't enough for him to gain all of his strength, not even enough for a lot of strength to return, but it was enough to hold him over for now.

At that exact moment Choji and Sakura both noticed a presence above them. Because Choji was still critically injured, Sakura felt it was her responsibility to protect him.

Somewhat embarrassed, Choji thought…_good thing Shikamaru isn't here…what would he say about a woman protecting a man? _His thoughts quickly faded as he watched Sakura prepare her attack.

Sakura quickly and instinctively reached into her leg holster, she removed two kunais and in one smooth motion, threw one kunai above her and towards the figure in the tree and kept the other in her hand for her own protection.

Somewhat surprised and disappointed that she didn't recognize his presence, Lee quickly went on the counter attack, though his attack was purely defense. He was impressed by her aim as well, the kunai was aimed directly at his head, intended to pierce his right eye. Dead center. If it hit its target, it would have been a critical wound.

Her talents could almost rival Tenten's.. She would make a good eternal rival for Tenten, though Tenten is most likely stronger. But with enough hard wor--

He quickly dismissed the thought and came back to reality. If he hadn't, the kunai would have surely hit its mark and killed him. Lee effortlessly moved his head to the right and using his left hand, caught the handle of the kunai. It had looked like it had just stopped in mid motion, point headed towards heaven and handle still pointing perfectly in Sakura's direction. He saw her pull out a third kunai, but decided he should act. Before Sakura could remove her hand from her holster, Lee was beside her, preventing her hand from moving. She gasped at first until she realized that Lee was actually a friend. No not a friend, but a comrade.

She let out a sigh of relief.

Lee was dumbstruck. He didn't know whether he wanted to yell at Sakura for running away on her own or hug and kiss her. He was certain that the latter would guarantee him an uppercut, a punch to the face and a swift kick in the ass. The first choice wasn't necessarily better, how could he lecture her about leaving, when that was **exactly **what he did, the only difference, Sakura was in perfect health.

"Thick brows? I mean Lee-san? Why are you here?" -Sakura

Lee's hopes were crushed. Instead of the touching heart to heart reunion he was expecting, she called him…

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Thick brows?? She called me thick brows again.. creases forming on his larger than life eyebrows and tears forming in his eyes.

A/N: GOMEN…don't worry tho….still more to come…its just a bit late….3:27AM…told ya that this creativity is messing with my sleep time….anyway…on my last fanfic…someone asked if they could use some of my stuff or copy stuff. I say….HELL YEA….aren't we all copying characters from a great anime. All I ask is…give me some credit for it…and by that I mean…tell people to read my story you got it from…and if not…oh well….it's the internet, people steal offa each other everyday…

2 fingaz!!


	2. HotBlooded Dropout and Cold Hearted Geni...

A/N: Yep yep, time to start part two of this fanfic. So far, its one of my better ideas, but I think that I planned out the dialogue and thoughts well enough, and I think they should stay in character. I hope so anyway…use whatever you want just give me some credit.

And as always, don't own it.

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Thoughts

"dialogue"

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Hot-Blooded Dropout and a Cold Hearted Genius

"SAKURA-SAN!!SAKURA-SAN!!, you're ok!! I was so worried, and then - " -Lee

"Lee calm down! Why are you here??" - Sakura

"…and did you bring anything to eat? ..anything good??" - Choji

Almost instantly Sakura turned around. She quickly punched Choji on the head again.

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Yep…just like Ino. Choji thought but didn't dare say another word out loud.

Lee just sweat dropped. He then found the proper words to put into action what he was thinking.

"Sakura-san, a lot of people are worried about you back in Konoha. I believe it would be in everyone's best interest to head back there now. Actually, (with a nice red blush) that is why I came out here, to safely escort you back to Konoha. I will protect you til I die Sakura-san." -Lee

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Gai-sensei…I did that perfect!! I'm awesome!!

Lee followed that statement up with a nice guy pose and a big toothy grin…sparkling teeth and all.

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He'll protect me til he dies. He said it again. Why? Why is he so persistant? And Why do I always need help? Why does no one think that I can protect myself? Why do they **always** have to protect me?

Somewhat embarrassed and too tired to fight back, Sakura looked to the ground, staring at her feet. Desperately fighting back tears, she was searching deep in herself. She was trying to think of something that she could say that would make Lee change his mind. She found nothing but decided to try anyway.

"Lee-san, arigatou. Thank you for caring so much, but I cannot go back, not yet, not until I bring Sasuke-kun home. Please understand." -Sakura

"Sakura-san, I do understand because, I feel the same way but I feel that way towards you." -Lee

A violent blush appeared on his face.

"I will bring your beloved Sasuke-kun back for you. If I cannot, I shall devote my life to bringing him back. That's a promise." - Lee

Nice guy pose teeth sparkle

Tears began to fill Sakura's eyes. She quickly thanked Lee and turned her attention back to Choji. Before Lee departed on his new "mission" (to bring Sasuke back), he shared the last two soldier pills that he had with Sakura and Choji.

Though it refilled Choji's vitality, he still had critical injuries. He needed to get back to the Konoha Hospital immediately. Well, not so much immediately, but sooner rather than later. Lee even offered him some of the medicine that he carried in his back pouch. He figured, if it was used to cure his wounds, than it could probably temporarily hold over Choji for the difficult trek back to the Leaf. Lee assumed that it worked, because after a short while of drinking the medicine, he noticed that Choji had a very big smile. He was talking gibberish mostly and slurring his words. Lee and Sakura assumed that it was mainly due to his lack of energy. Sakura was to head directly to Leaf with 3 breaks planned, and when she was in Leaf village, she would get someone else to help her with the much larger Choji and they were both to be checked out in the hospital.

Lee's part of the plan was to continue where Sakura had left off. It was a lot easier to find the group of people left because on a tree where Choji rested, there were definite arrows marking the direction the rest of the group had headed.

Finding Sakura had refilled Lee's energy. He was running towards the group with a new high, his energy completely returned.

He wasn't really sure whether or not he would encounter any traps set by the enemy or not. He was on full alert of course. He had traveled another mile when he saw an area that was obviously the site of a recent battle. He was going to avoid the area for fear of being drawn into the battle until he saw a crater that was about 10ft in diameter. He instantly knew who was responsible…

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Neji

Lee continued on his present course, but slowed down to take in more clues that might alert him to Neji's location. He then noticed something sparkling on the forest floor. He investigated and discovered that it was a Konoha forehead protector. **Neji**'s protector. He then noticed that a line was running across the forest floor. He wasn't really sure what material the line was made of, but he guessed that if he followed it, it would lead him to Neji. He was right. Once again Lee was almost to tears at the sight he saw. In the distance, he saw two people lying on the ground. He couldn't distinguish which figure was his beloved comrade. He was on the defense and rushed in to see what he could do. To his misfortune, one of the bodies was Neji. He was breathing, but with much difficulty. The other body was already dead. Lee wasted no time in trying to revive his teamate. He carefully picked up his body and took him to a nearby stream to treat his various injuries. He bandaged wounds, cleaned cuts and stratches, and even shared a little of his chakra with Neji. Neji was in critical condition. The whole time, Lee was panicking. He was an excellent shonobi however, and never once showed any signs of worry to his teamate for fear that his emotions would be transmitted to his partner and exasperate the situation. Lee was desperately trying to figure out some type of solution that would solve everyone's problems. If not solve them, at least slow them down enough for him to save his teamate and allow him to continue his other 'mission'. Tears filling his eyes in frustration and defeat, Lee remembers something that just might save Neji's life. He opened his pouch and is violently searched the contents.

Not able to search the insides fast enough, Lee violently emptied the contents of his pouch on the forest floor near him. Virtually, turning his pouch upside down and shaking it until even the smallest piece of lint fell out. He was looking for a scroll that would temporarily heal most of Neji's wounds. Unfortunately, he must have forgotten that one. He was in a hurry when he left the hospital so he didn't carefully and intelligently select all of the tools he needed. Luckily for him though, he did have one scroll that would possibly help tremendously in this situation. He picked up the scroll from the ground and unrolled it and spread it calmly on the ground. He then removed a kunai from his leg holster. He rolled back some of the bandages that he kept around his middle finger. He used one of the sides to cut his finger and let a little blood drip onto the paper. He rubbed his hands together to smear the blood around in his palms and he prayed intently.

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Please, pleASE! PLEASE!! Let this work.

He molded a large amount of chakra while firmly placing both hands on the unrolled scroll.

SUMMONING NO JUTSU!!

A small cloud of smoke appeared and was quickly blown away by a forest breeze. When all the smoke cleared, a large turtle stood in its wake.

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It worked!! I cant believe it worked!! Thank you Gai-sensei!!

It wasn't the same turtle that had caught Lee back in the Chuunin exam, but it was about the same size. It had a different attitude too. This turtle was more agreeable than the last.

Lee begged the turtle to take Neji back to the Konoha. He also explained that a girl with pink hair and a fa- big-boned guy were on their way back as well, and asked him if he could escort them back as well. This turtle agreed quickly but needed Lee to tie Neji's limp body to his shell. After all of this was done, the turtle obediently left, not wasting anytime.

Lee remained there for a while. He became very light headed, and laid on his back for fear of fainting. He used up a lot of chakra performing that summons. Lee didn't have any talent in genjutsu or ninjutsu. Because he spent most of his time focusing on taijutsu, he had enormous amounts of spirit chakra. Even though he had large amounts of chakra, he had no talent in either forming, molding, controlling, or releasing the right amount of chakra at the right times. The concepts of good chakra control were things taught in the academy. He was the hot-blooded **dropout** after all.

Almost losing conscientoiusness, Lee was certain that he was hallucinating. Laying on his back and staring in the clouds, he was almost certain that he saw three orbs flying high above the canopy lines.

Not knowing what type of bird the mysterious orbs were, he dismissed the thought and lost conscientiousness for a while.

When he came to about 20 minutes later, he climbed back into the trees and continued his mission.

A/N: yes yes, I know what youre thinking, LEE CANT USE SUMMONING NO JUTSU. I know he cant use it, but listen to my argument first. If you recall back in the Chuunin exam, the second test. Gather the heaven scroll and the earth scroll. If you opened the scrolls outside of the tower, it would **summon** a current chuunin who would kick your ass and leave you knocked out until the exam was over. I assumed that the summons didn't have anything to do with the scroll holder's personal abilities. I just decided that for purposes in telling the story here…Lee using some chakra and sacrificing some blood would be better….if you don't like it…well…don't read….DUH!!

Expect the final chapter soon…maybe 2 more…probably not tho


	3. A HotBlooded Conclusion

A/N: Sorry, was kinda busy lately, but, this chapter should be pretty short and should end this one. I'm working on a ShikaIno fic, and about to finish my Konohamaru one too…look for em soon.

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A Hot Blooded Conclusion

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The rest of Lee's journey was pretty simple. He didn't have any clues to find Naruto or Shikamaru, but he wasn't necessarily concerned with them. He worried about them because of the condition of his two other comrades, Choji and Neji. He was worried that Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba were critically wounded just the same. This was at least a B-rank mission. Then he remembered his promise to Sakura-san. He had to bring Sasuke back. He would risk his life. That was the Konoha ninja way after all.

He wasn't really sure what he could do. He wasn't really sure of Choji's ability as a ninja because he had never seen him fight. Even though he was from the Akimichi clan, the clan with the most brute force. And for Neji to be defeated so horrible. He was an elite genius and he was in such horrible condition. Near-death, Unconscous, and exhausted. He would make it though, he was sure of it. He was worried about Naruto the most. He was always ridiculed as the worst. His fight with Kiba was won out of sheer luck. He didn't see his fight with Neji. He assumed he won that fight out of sheer luck too. Lee had fought with Neji for years, and never beat him. Not once.

Lee continued his pace with a new sense of urgency. He finally arrived at a large clearing, looking out, he saw a large container and Naruto, actually, A LOT of Narutos. He wanted to observe for a short while and see how Naruto handled the situation.

He noticed a humongous cloud of smoke in the middle of the humongous cloud of Narutos. This enemy was good in order to be able to handle the clones in the middle so quickly and create such a cloud.

Lee quickly jumped down from the trees onto the ground. He was thinking about a battle strategy when he saw the container explode. Out jumped something that he wasn't really sure was human. It gave off such an abnormal chakra, an evil chakra, that it made Lee shiver and made the hairs on his neck stand straight up. It gave him the chills. He wasn't really sure if it was another enemy until he heard Naruto yelling..

"SASUKE!!" - Naruto

Unfortunately, Naruto had let his guard down, the enemy began making his move, throwing off an intent to kill that even Lee could sense it even though he was about 500 yards away. Out of pure reflex, Lee made his counter attack, focusing chakra to his legs to make him move as fast as he possible could.

Lee was running with everything he had until he got within range. He then firmly planted his right leg and leaped into the air. Sticking his leg out perpendicular to the ground and contorting his top half Lee inhaled and prepared to say his signature line..

"KONOHA SENPUU!!!"

A/N: The End, sorry just got tired of writing this fanfic, so the ending is kinda rushed and kinda lame….sorry look out for my other ones.


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